Games
by Dark Lassie
Summary: **complete now** Lucius gets his own back on Severus for deserting him ... possibly the most terrible punishment in the world.
1. Games

Games

A/N: Ok, this is a little like the Tulip Touch, which is a fantastic but very sinister book by Anne Fine. If you haven't read it, do. But it's a wonderful book. I've always wanted to play with the relationship between Snape and Malfoy and now is my chance!

Disclaimer: They don't belong to me.

*****

Even before the days when Voldemort terrorised whole nations with his massacres, they stood. While He Who Must Not Be Named cursed countless civilians and his underlings subtly eliminated openly declared rebels who formed hasty peace with their enemies to try and destroy the Dark Lord, a far more dangerous, a smoother, slower and infinitely more fatal threat, a deadly alliance, existed. An evil bond of love and hate, of torture and half-truths, marred by pain and grief and torment and saved only by a spark of mercy and forgiveness at the end of each twisted game.

Snape and Malfoy. Malfoy and Snape. Always together. Forever friends, eternally enemies.

It had started perfectly harmlessly. A chance meeting in a tavern in 1884, exchanging of greetings, opinions, suggestions. Tentative touching of legs, arms, final reckless interlacing of fingers, a wary but passionate night spent in wild lust … casual friendship extended beyond manly affection into a terrible association. 

Their connection would be worse than all of Voldemort's campaigns put together. Together they would cause more heartbreak, deal out more pain, cause more grief and anger. More souls would be eaten out.

And the heirs would continue.

Severus and Lucius were the worst, the malevolent threat, lurking, smiling, in the shade. Weaving their dangerous games and spiteful tricks among both friends and enemies, giving not a care for their hurt and betrayal.

Severus and Lucius.

*****

They knew each other before conscious thought, they looked into each other's eyes in the cradle, and something passed between them. An unspoken bond, a knowledge of terrible deeds to be done.

Mothers weeping at their horrible children who could bend them to their will, get anything they wanted, toys sweets, love. Fathers talking together, arms around shoulders just a little more intimate, dissolute, unhidden desire in those eyes. Proud of their sons who could manipulate anyone and anything.

Friendship continued past infanthood, past fair and soft and innocent reaching out into the world, into Hogwarts, for there would they make their ultimate conquest …

And together they wreaked their quiet evil chaos, fencing with the Marauders, with Lily Evans, with Narcissa le Fay in the year below. For they had an advantage that no one could see or hear or touch, and that was evil. Evil itself was on their side, delighting, approving, encouraging them and their horrific games. And they enjoyed what they did. There was nothing they could not change to suit them, nothing they could not do. The danger of their smiles lay in the half-truths they told to each other, to their friends, their enemies. 

The girls who knew them hated them, feared them but was somehow drawn to them by a kind of sick fascination, for when they wanted to please they could be hot, they could be charming and everything sweet and smooth. _'Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under't,_' and they were, true serpents of Slytherin, driving liking to the name of love without any intention but that of crashing it, propelling it down like a sunken plane piloted by an insane murderer. 

Casual reversion to gentleman-like habits, the kissing of Lily Evans' hand as she passed with her books clasped to her innocent fair bosom. Golden-brown fiery hair cascading down the young straight back, a confused smile, a few words said without thought and Lily was driven straight to infatuation, following the two without scruples.

For they were the same, Severus and Lucius, Lucius and Severus, they were the same and one. Anyone who loved one loved the other, and they shared the love, engaging in fantasy games, transporting the feminine beauties to places unknown, a place of terrible addiction, of love and hate, of inner torment, slashing mercilessly at the flanks until the girls were beaten, crushed, reduced to ashes by the power and deadly accuracy. Psychological torture, that silent taunting the two boys shared in was bittersweet, ecstatic until that final moment of defeat when all seemed lost, and suicide … inevitable.

*****

A/N: Ok, if you want me to continue please tell me because I have a lot more, my imagination will not stop for quite some time! The next chapter will be up when I have liberty to fumble with it like the helpless child I am.


	2. Liar, cheater, talker, lover ...

_'She tied you to a kitchen chair,_

_She broke your throat, she cut your hair,_

_And from your lips she drew the "Hallelujah".'_

'_Hallelujah_' - Rufus Wainwright

Chapter 2

Although they seemed the same to everyone else, and all who loved them were perpetually torn between the two Slytherin snakes, both knew they had their subtle differences. Severus was the genius, the prodigy; he thought up the games, he set them up. His smile was as the Slytherin serpent waiting under its shady white flower, waiting to rear its ugly head and strike. He waited.

Lucius was the charmer, the actor, the poet. He could induce love, hate, sympathy within the slight space of two minutes. His smile was sincere, for he enjoyed luring the victims to the entrance of Severus' lair and then laughing as they turned and tried to escape while he blocked their way. He laughed.

Manipulation and subtle equivocation took practice. Not a week went by when at least one student ran weeping from the two boys' presence, male or female. Mainly Snape and Malfoy prepared themselves for the ultimate conquest, the great triumph, by persuading younger students into terrible deeds of betrayal against their schoolmates.

They could break anyone; there was no limit to their power.

Inevitably the time came when they felt they were ready to choose their ultimate victim. The target would fall, and all around them too. Meeting in a lonely, deserted room of the castle, Severus and Lucius met to discuss their plans …

*****

Lucius entered the small room in trepidation, waiting for some sign that Severus, his lover, friend, rival, had arrived. Nervously he waited in the dark, not daring to utter the spell to light the lamps.

'Finally …' Severus' voice was low, sensuous. A small shudder ran through Lucius as he remembered what that voice sounded like when they made love … Unconsciously he reached out towards the taller boy, feeling a sudden primal urge to seduce him.

'Not yet.' Severus held up a thin, beautiful hand. 'We have to talk, remember?'

'So who will it be?'

The lamp flickered suddenly; Severus' eyes seemed to blaze and glitter. He leant in toward Lucius, letting his lips rest gently against Lucius' ear as he murmured the words: 'You _know_ who.'

'It's settled, then.'

'Of course. You didn't think that was just a phase, did you, Lucius?'

Lucius stared at Severus uncertainly. 'Um -'

Severus tutted. 'Come, come, Lucius, you must have known that was whom I've had in mind the whole time we've been at Hogwarts. You of all people should be able to read these things.'

Still the pale-haired wizard was unsure where Severus was heading with this. Would he attack him, beat him, as he had done before, even as Lucius had attacked and beaten Severus? Would he seduce him? Or would he merely reprimand him and leave it at that?

Strangely, although he had known Severus all his life, he was still the one person Lucius could not read like a teenage novel. The boy-man was so unpredictable, so delightfully elusive of Lucius' efforts to understand him that it was a joy, a mental challenge, exam-like, just to be near him. He had a feeling, though, that Severus knew every in and out, every tiny crevice, every possible concealment of fact in Lucius' brain. Severus was like that. His black eyes saw right through the most cunningly contrived plan; his skill certainly helped their games.

Tonight was no different. Severus stared at Lucius, assessing, calculating, and quickly, with grace and smoothness of movement, like a cat, prowling, hunting, he moved in and kissed Lucius full on the lips. Lucius relaxed instantly into that kiss, but his mind was far from relaxed. Experience had taught him that this could be another game, a diversion to persuade Lucius that anything was possible.

Severus did not stop there, though. With easy, practised movements he pulled off Lucius' robes, bearing him down to the floor as he kissed his neck. Then slowly he slid his hand down Lucius' body, making the blonde boy twitch in excitement.

'Lucius … it _will _be Lily. You can't refuse me … not now.'

'Whatever you say … Severus … please …' Lucius ran his hand through Severus' hair desperately.

Severus flicked his tongue tantalisingly at Lucius' chest. 'What do you want?'

Lucius groaned in frustration and need. 'You …'

Grinning a slow, mysterious grin that told Lucius exactly what Severus was trying to do, he slowly kissed Lucius' neck, shoulders, legs, chest, finally reaching the centre of Lucius' energy with smouldering eyes and a hungry mouth. 

Suddenly Lucius sat up even as he orgasmed, pulling his robes up to cover himself and shoving Severus away. This wasn't right. Something was wrong. 'Severus – please, don't hurt me … I can't do this.'

'Can't do what? Seduce Lily? Lucius, my friend, what is wrong with you?'

'I can't let you seduce me … quit playing with me, Severus. Don't try and kiss me and then just wash me and rinse me out and hang me up to dry. I can play with anyone else, just not you. The games don't work here. These are emotions, Severus. _Real feelings._'

'I know, I know.' Severus' eyes still sparkled as he spoke softly. 'That's what makes it so interesting.'

'Listen, Severus. I'll seduce Lily. You can have her. Just please don't play with me. My nerves are falling apart.' Lucius knew that he was gibbering, but suddenly he was terribly afraid of this dark, tall, sadistic boy who knew exactly what he wanted and was not afraid of getting it. 'Please …'

'You're trying my patience, Lucius. You know I'll have my way with you eventually. Why not just let me?'

Lucius backed away in fright. Severus was between him and the doorway, and his consciousness began to brush the first fringes of despair. Slowly Severus approached him, face set in mock pleading but eyes imposing, regal, demanding. 

Suddenly, rabbit-like, panicked and desperate, Lucius made a bolt for the door, but Severus caught him and bundled him onto the floor, laughing a deep, low, growling laugh that made Lucius' body respond even in his state of terror.

Their combined laughing and whimpering echoed into the darkness, alone, isolated, Severus' darkness, his world of revenge and betrayal. Finally Lucius understood. Understood the intricacy of Severus' plans, his aim to seduce Lily, understood that it was all a game …

Understood that he wanted to sacrifice her to Lord Voldemort.

Finally Severus let him go, and Lucius hurried back to the dormitory, satisfied in body but wild of eye.

Severus Snape was going to join Lord Voldemort. He was going to be a Death Eater.

And suddenly Lucius realised with a shock that he wanted to be with him when he did.

*****

Tell me what you think, everyone! Do you want more?


	3. Unkown uncertainty

'I am in blood

_Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more,_

_Returning were as tedious as go o'er.'_

Macbeth – William Shakespeare

Chapter 3 

The hunt was his thrill, the blood of the victims his nourishment. Severus Snape loved the chase, the delicate manoeuvring around the targets, the charm and wit of the hunters. Some cupid kills with arrows, some with traps.

Lucius had been his first victim, his utter and complete success. In their cradles he had looked at the baby who was going to be as close as his brother, and his eyes had spoken of domination, of imposing orders. The golden-haired child had batted his father's arm at that point, but his eyes had also shown that he knew he would be second best, a slave to the most ruthless tyrant at Hogwarts.

He had lost count of the number of people he had seduced. Of course, Lucius had charmed them; Severus had just stepped in at the last moment and led them quietly to a deserted part of the castle. He would walk with the person, girl or boy, caressing their hand, occasionally brushing their neck with his lips, all the while whispering sweet seductive nothings in their ear.

They would reach the room where Severus had experienced so many triumphs, so many buildings of faith that would all too soon be knocked down like a petal in a gale. The worship would soon be gone.

Last night, when he had raped Lucius in that very room … he shuddered in pleasure at the sound of his voice pleading with him to continue. It had happened before, but last night had proven him the god. Lucius was afraid, a small scared rabbit. Severus had conquered him. Lucius would defer to Severus now.

And Severus needed his deference. 

Severus knew that his sacrifice to Voldemort had to be the person whom he loved most. That it was the breaking of that bond which gave Voldemort the power to connect the new Death Eater to him forever. The problem was, he did not believe he loved anybody. Not even Lucius.

And so he had chosen the person whom everyone else loved instead. The breaking of her bond with so many others would surely be just as powerful. The girl who liked everyone, who never frowned. The Queen of Hogwarts. Lily Evans.

In many ways, Lily was similar to Severus and Lucius. She could charm anybody she wanted. Some of her classmates had pronounced themselves gay just after experiencing the full power of her smile and light, tinkling laugh. Her hair was a fresh fire, young and new, and the fires raged around her as Lily moved through the world scattering goodwill.

No, there was never any question about Lily's queenship. 

But Severus needed Lucius to seduce Lily, to persuade her that the two were gods, worthy of worship and adoration, worthy of her undying affection. To hold her while she took the Dark Mark and was killed.

Severus looked at himself in his mirror, drawing back his hair into a ponytail with practiced ease. Much as he wanted to seduce and betray Lily now, to join the Dark Lord now, he had a little errand to attend to. Narcissa Le Fay had requested a meeting with him, a secret rendezvous in the unknown depths of the castle, to 'tell him something.' Severus knew full well what she was going to tell him, had prepared for this. When he was playing, he played like a prince, worse than the Devil himself. He had planned and predicted Narcissa's every move.

Slipping silently out of the Slytherin common room, invisible to everyone chattering by the fire, Severus paused in the hallway. He had been seen here before, by Dumbledore or one of the other teachers. He had been knocked about in detention, made to scratch his quill across parchment forming the same letters over and over again, until he had 'learned his lesson.'

But Severus has learned the truth years before the Hogwarts rules came into play. That there were no rules.

Stealing his way towards their secret room was no problem. Severus was not the brains of the outfit for nothing, he was no puppet like Lucius. He could easily avoid most of the teachers when he was in the twisting labyrinth that was Hogwarts.

As he crept along the corridor, he suddenly heard a small click. The noise of a boot against stone. A female boot, placed upon the floor with innocent grace and joy. Lily.

Abruptly Severus turned and ran lithely towards the sound. He found Lily behind a suit of armour, obviously startled but not unhappy to see him, but just as obviously waiting for someone else.

'Severus! What are you doing here?' Lily's voice was a gasp, naturally of shock and surprise but also, Severus was sure, of desire.

'I might ask you the same question.' The usual response at Hogwarts.

Lily smiled shyly, and looked down. 'You of all people must know that. I'm supposed to be meeting your … associate tonight.'

So that was it. Severus raised a perfectly shaped but masculine eyebrow. Lucius had worked fast. 'I see.'

'Of course …' Lily looked down, then blurted: 'I'd much rather be meeting you, Severus.'

Severus felt a small jolt in his chest at this. Silently he told his emotions to still so he could gauge Lily's own. 'You're joking, of course, Lily.'

'I'm not.' She was so young, so inexperienced, and so delightfully … pure. Voldemort would enjoy spoiling this one before he killed her. 'Where are you going, then, Severus?' 

She was obviously trying to catch him up, not to be outdone. 'I don't see that it's any of your business.' Years of practice had taught him how to inject just the right amount of softness into a pretended cold voice, and he could see Lily's eyes harden but then catch that smooth edge, and fill with need.

'I do. Go on, Severus … I won't tell anyone.'

Severus laid a hand on her cheek, feigning resignation to an undesired fate. 'I'd better go. I don't want to be late.'

'Is it Narcissa?'

Severus froze. How in the world could she possibly know about that? Lucius would never have let slip, and nor, he was sure, would Narcissa …

'I'm right, aren't I? Severus, what's Narcissa got that I haven't?'

Severus slipped back to Lily quickly and slid his hands around her waist. 'Ah, Lily, she simply got there first.'

Lily lifted her face to his, bringing her lips so near to his that Severus could feel the energy between them. 'Your loss,' she whispered seductively, and then turned and skipped away, her silvery laugh ringing like the notes of a harp on the stone walls. 

Severus smiled, satisfied, and then raced on to join Narcissa in their den. She was there waiting for him, blonde hair twirling on the cushions, skin whispering over the silk throw where her dress did not cover her.

'You're late.' She pouted.

'Not my fault,' he replied vaguely, still considering Lily's reactions. Had she really been drawn to him so, or could it be that she was playing like he was? That in her superiority to her classmates she had dared to take on the master at his own game? For the first time in his life, Severus did not know. The thought panicked him, and he gripped Narcissa with more than the usual strength.

'You want me that bad, do you?'

Stupid bitch, thinking she could arouse him. What Lucius saw in her Severus did not know, but it was not his place to criticise his partner, and so he had to play along, for the sake of the game if nothing else. 'Something like that,' he murmured.

'Then kiss me.'

Severus plunged his lips against hers, the urgency not quite feigned. He was afraid. He was afraid of Lily and what she could do to him when he thought he was winning. He was not sure whether Lily would sweep his legs out from under him when he wasn't looking and expose his weakness. It would be better to keep away from her altogether. But the agony of not knowing, the perpetual wondering if he might have won had he had continued, if Lily was simply too naïve to understand the complexities of pretending affection. Severus could not stop now.

As Narcissa made love to him, he let his thoughts whir. The time would soon be right to hand over Narcissa to Lucius. After all, they were eighteen – they would soon be leaving Hogwarts. Marriage, especially for Slytherins, followed soon after graduation. Lucius could marry Narcissa and settle for what he thought would be a safe, comfortable life. 

Severus laughed in the deep depths of his mind at this. Lucius would never be safe. Not from the Snape family. The bond between the Malfoys and the Snapes could never be broken. The link was too deeply engrained now.

And when Lucius married Narcissa, Severus could finally make his ultimate conquest, play his final game by himself.

'SEVERUS!'

The thoughts dissipated, and Severus looked down at Narcissa, who was struggling to get out from underneath him. 'What?'

'How DARE you?' Tears were running down Narcissa's face, but still Severus was unaware of what had happened.

He caught hold of Narcissa, one strong hand on her shoulder and the other on the side of her head. 'What is it?'

'Severus, I thought you liked me! You made me believe you liked me …' Her shouting finally lowered to a whimper. 'Did you ever like me?'

'Narcissa, what are you talking about?' Severus demanded. The girl was starting to resist his touch. He had to find out what had happened before she left him.

'Just now, when we were … you were moaning … a name. And it wasn't my name, Severus.'

A fire inside him flared. He stared at Narcissa, dread starting to creep into his veins. 'Whose name was it?'

'Lily. Lily Evans.'

Severus cursed himself. _You fool!_ 'Narcissa, my love …' 

'Stop it! How dare you think you can call me that? You've betrayed me, Severus! You want Lily. Well, you can have her. You and I are _finished._' She strode to the door and then looked back at him, regret and more unwept tears gleaming in her eyes.

But Severus was not going to give her any sympathy now. 'Fine,' he spat. 'Go. Have Lucius. He wants you, and I know for a fact you want him.'

Narcissa blushed. 'Severus …'

'Now who's betrayed whom, Narcissa? Go get Lucius. You have three chances to guess who he's with.'

The girl's face darkened. 'Lily,' she snarled.

'Very good. She does seem to get around a lot, doesn't she?' Severus smirked.

Without another word, Narcissa turned and swept from the room. Severus laughed softly for a moment, then followed the corridor back to where he had found Lily. The time had come to break her and Lucius up.

*****

So, what do you all think? I need reviews, pleeeease! I actually cannot continue without reviews.


	4. End Game

Chapter 4

As he had expected, Severus found Lily and Lucius together in the second of their small hideouts in the mysteriousness that was Hogwarts. Slowly he creaked open the door, brushed aside the black enchanted curtain that made the room look forever empty and stared into the half-darkness. 

Lucius was leaning against the table with Lily in his arms. Severus took one look at that long, muscular body that was Lucius' essence of sexuality and gulped. Even now, after all these years of deciding that he needed to have Lily, he still would rather bear Lucius down to the floor, whisper vows of love … or lust, or _something_ … to Lucius.

And yet he had moaned Lily's name. 

Severus let his eyes flick between the two embracing students, trying desperately to decide which one he wanted. Then his hand came involuntarily to rest on his left arm, and he knew immediately what his choice had to be. 

Did he want the Dark Mark or not?

'Lucius,' he said softly, trying to inject regret and determination into his voice. It was a terrible failure, and Severus could tell that Lucius knew it.

'Severus … what do you want?'

'I think we both know,' Severus said, staring pointedly at Lily. She gazed back with obvious desire in her eyes that Lucius, although he did not have a direct view of her eyes, simply could not ignore.

'Narcissa and I had a little … disagreement tonight,' Severus continued. 'I think she wants to see you, Lucius …'

Lucius nodded with relief showing in his face, desire for Narcissa overriding any passing guilt he may have felt at leaving Lily and forcing her to switch her emotions so quickly. He moved away from her gracefully, giving her a reassuring smile which she returned wryly, obviously anticipating what was to come.

'Thank you, Lucius. I'll see you later. Now leave us,' Severus ordered, a Slytherin hiss mingling with the words slightly as he stretched out his hand behind him to Lily. She took it quickly, came to him willingly, all traces of innocence or virginity gone. Lily knew what was to happen tonight.

With only a passing pang did Severus watch Lucius go. The flaxen-haired boy would never be strong enough to join Voldemort. Not unless he found a sacrifice so immense that the breaking of the bond could give him the strength to be whole, not half of a team but a whole person with a will of his own.

Voldemort's favour was stronger than love.

Slowly Severus turned to Lily, a small seductive smile playing on his lips which she also showed with no trace of embarrassment. He wasn't quite sure how to play this. Would she, even in her state of self-assuredness, appreciate him playing the ardent lover? Or did she want a strong, experienced man who bore no resemblance to an eighteen-year-old?

He decided to try the lover stance first. Drawing her close to him with an expert look of adoration, he whispered: 'I've wanted this to happen for so long.'

Lily raised an eyebrow. 'You and I know that's not true, Severus. And you're not being genuine. The Severus _I_ know doesn't say things like that.'

The fire he had felt earlier flared again, awakening Severus' passion with a new enlightenment. Unable to resist any more, he moved in quickly and kissed her mouth, demanding, wanting. Lily let out a low moan and wrapped her arms around his neck. 'Take me, Severus. _Now._'

Laughing softly at the sudden change in Lily and too far gone in lust to even consider that she might not mean it, Severus began to slowly and methodically pull off her clothes, pausing every so often to renew the fire inside him with another rough kiss. Lily giggled, reminding Severus of a child who feigns innocence but knows that he did wrong when he drew on the kitchen wall. 

Her hands, pulling at his clothes, trembling slightly and betraying her slight fear at losing her maidenhood to a known fraud, a sadist, a seducer, and above all an equivocator, reminded Severus that it was her first time, and he restrained his movements so as not to startle her, not to scare away this beautiful unicorn who seemed to stare in through his eyes, though the deep caverns of his mind into his very soul, where smouldered hate and fire and lust.

'Don't stop,' Lily said breathlessly, and Severus could not deny her, had no choice but to wrap his arms around her and let himself be drawn in, excited by her. 

He started to take off his own clothes, suddenly feeling the urgency to which he had made so many pretensions over the years, needing to hurry, wanting Lily _now._ But Lily stopped him, grasped his thin black cotton shirt, drew him to her and kissed his neck slowly, sensuously, making Severus shudder. 'Severusss …'

'Shh, my darling,' he whispered to her, and suddenly the word 'darling' no longer tasted bitter and poisonous on his lips, sounded right when used to such an angel as Lily, and Severus knew that his choice had been right, that there was a bond between them, that she could be used properly.

She was doomed. As soon as her lips touched Severus' she was dead; she felt the same desire for him as he did for her, and there was no way either of them could turn back from this path that would inevitably lead to her death.

Lily stopped kissing him suddenly. 'Do you love me, Severus?' she whispered huskily into his ear. 

Severus had no choice but to assume she meant real love, and as much as the thrill of the game drew him, as much as he wanted to affirm it and have Lily love him, he could not lie to her. 'Non, ma chere … not yet. I just want you.'

Lily let out a low cry and dragged him down to the floor, little shivers running through her tense excited body as Severus' fingers played on her skin as a musician plays a harp. And suddenly Severus was a child too, he was innocent just as he had never known true pleasure before. He explored the outer reaches of his excitement just as Lily did, and both marvelled at the joys of love. 

The night slipped away as they manoeuvred in amazed enlightenment, and it was all too soon gone. By the time the liquid dawn illuminated the papery periwinkle sky white, Severus had lost count of the climaxes he had had. Lily was flushed and sweating, Severus pale and shocked at himself. Why had he allowed himself to give up so utterly to this creature in the shadows of the night? The dark was his realm, his twisted kingdom, where he lured helpless victims from the gaudy oblivious world of the light into the subtle science of inducing emotions. Why had she been allowed to rule here?

As they said their goodbyes and promised to meet again, as Lily slipped away with a knowing superior smile on her face like a spy who has had her suspicions confirmed, Severus was whimpering inside, body filling with terror and utter shame.

When Lucius came to find him after breakfast, he was curled naked in a corner with blood running from cuts on his chest, sobbing like he would never stop.

*****

Lucius was sick inside. All through lessons that day, as he watched Narcissa and made plans for their coming wedding (Narcissa had voiced the idea at breakfast after their encounter last night, and he had accepted gratefully), he was sick inside. More than anything he wanted to erase Severus' memory of what happened the night before, to convince him that it hadn't happened, to ease his mind. Although, he admitted to himself, in all truth he wasn't sure what had happened.

He could not bring himself to go and visit Severus in the hospital wing. It would be too affectionate. Severus punished him for affection. He knew that, he thought, pressing his fingers lightly against the numerous scars on his torso. Severus knew how to punish.

But how could he just sit here worrying about the person who had been his only care for eighteen years, the centre of his life, his soul, his very being. 

Surely Severus could not punish him for caring?

As soon as History of Magic was over, Lucius slipped down to the Hospital Wing, furtive, not wanting anyone to see the concern lurking in the shades of his grey eyes. Madame Biloux threw him a surprised glance, then let him through, murmuring: 'Don't expect anything, he hasn't spoken at all.'

Severus was lying in the furthest bed in the wing, his black hair stark against the crisp white sheets, a raven of darkness in a pure world. Unwaveringly he stared up at the ceiling, eyes clothed in a veil of sleep but wild and haunted below.

'Severus,' Lucius called softly.

The boy did not move, but his gaze on the ceiling seemed to grow in intensity, as if he could not bear to acknowledge that Lucius was here, that Lucius cared. 

Suddenly Lucius realised what must have happened, why Severus was so pale, so shocked, so self-denying, so terribly vulnerable. 'I see,' he said sadly. Severus Snape had known love, true passion. The cloak of lust that had always been kept tightly drawn about him had been unlocked to reveal a scared, small little boy. And Lily was the key. 'You're in love with her.'

Severus turned to Lucius, hate flaring in his eyes but also a kind of resigned truth, knowledge that what Lucius said was true, the utter and complete reality. 'What are you doing here?' he snarled.

'Severus, don't pretend you're not hurt. You may think I don't know you at all, but I can tell what you're thinking. You love Lily, and you hate yourself for it. But was _that_ really necessary?' He gestured to the scars on Severus' arms and bare chest.

'Get out.'

'Severus, _please._' Lucius could not allow Severus to blank him out, _Lucius Malfoy,_ who was the centre of Severus' life. 'Please. After eighteen years, can't you at least trust me enough for this?'

Severus returned his gaze to the ceiling, his lips twisting in a bitter scowl. 'Trust? What is trust to men like us, Lucius?'

'We're not men, Severus!' Lucius cried. He had never wanted to admit it before, but he could not let Severus destroy himself simply for the sake of wanting to be strong. 'We're only young yet. We've got years ahead of us; why do we have to keep playing this game? It's not real, we can stop now … Severus, talk to me!'

Severus turned and looked at him again, and this time it was sincere, genuine, Lucius understood it and welcomed the pain, realisation and willing tears that stood in his dark eyes. 'I hoped this would never happen. I guess I just wanted to carry on playing this like our fathers … I never thought it would collapse …' Severus' voice was starting to crack, and a solitary tear slid down his bone-white cheek, a herald of what was to come. He took a breath as if to say something else, and then, quite suddenly, let himself go with an anguished cry and doubled over in sobs.

Lucius had to fight hard to stop himself joining Severus in weeping to steel his eyelids to hold back the pinpricks of sorrow in his eyes, but could not stop himself from striding the rest of the distance between the bed and throwing his arms around the sobbing boy.

'Nothing's real any more, Lucius!' Severus wept into his lover's neck. 'Just take me to Lord Voldemort and have done with it! Make me your sacrifice, please, just don't let me live anymore …' His voice rose out of control and Lucius instinctively tightened his grip on Severus, nuzzling his neck gently as Severus Snape's heart and soul were dragged from him in his tears, as both accepted the fact that the games were over, that pleasure could never be taken in anything again. 

*****

Touching? Please give me reviews. Sorry to make the chapter kinda short but this seemed like quite a good stopping point! I'm not sure how to carry this on at the moment, so it may take me a while to put up some more.

Pleeeeeeeease review my friends!


	5. The Split

Chapter 5

A/N: This is the last chapter now … it's a little strange, but bear with me.

*****

After Severus' breakdown in the hospital wing, he was hauntingly different, had become almost unrecognisable to many of his schoolmates. He no longer took cares with his appearance, allowed his hair to hang lank and greasy beside his face, let his skin go sour against him. His face became a picture of hatred and betrayal. His eyes dominated his expression, two haunted tunnels of darkness warding off everything and everyone. 

Every time Lucius laid eyes on Severus, he had to snap his head away to fight the tears. Severus was so dead now. Before he had been a predator, living only for the thrill of the hunt, the heat of the kill. His eyes burned in his face, the blackness inside revelling in life and in what he could do. When he walked he wore a face of confidence, of boldness, a face that was attractive, irresistible even … that was alive.

Any logical mind would conclude that this was the time in Severus' life when he needed Lucius the most, the time that could really bring the two of them together and bind them using something other than lust and greed. But Lucius seemed to have drawn a complete blank. Severus completely ignored him, just as he used to ignore someone he had hurt and betrayed. 

And it wasn't just Lucius he ignored. Lily was friendlier than ever towards him, but he refused even to acknowledge her presence. Anything she said to him seemed to go completely unheard, and after a few attempts to make him notice her Lily would turn away in disgust, storm away and run to the Marauders for comfort. Remus, her biggest fan and worshipper whom Severus had abused and mocked so badly before, had become her confidant, her best friend in her failed love.

The crowds in the corridor between lessons would still as Severus walked past them, the laughs and shouts fading to a terrified silence as his footsteps snapped on the stone floor, his mouth a bitter twist of anger. Teachers spoke to him in a cautious, soft voice, none of them daring to punish him even when he deliberately dropped his standards of work, when he overset his cauldron in frustration.

This dead shadow of the life-relishing boy who had existed a few days before hung over the whole school, speaking to no one unless it was absolutely necessary, bringing the entire atmosphere down. Professor Dumbledore attempted once or twice to speak to Severus, to beg him to release the deadly torturous grip he had on the school. 

After being spurned scornfully a few times Dumbledore warned Severus that he would either have to sort himself out or leave the school.

'Fine,' Severus spat. 'Send me away.'

But Dumbledore saw how it would hurt him, saw the yearning and regret in his eyes when he looked at Lucius, saw how sending him away would be as good as sending him to the Dark Lord. So he had let him stay on at Hogwarts, had encouraged Lucius to keep trying, to let Severus know as best he could that he was not forgotten, not rejected and hated and scorned, not completely.

The weeks that followed Severus' breakdown were the hardest Lucius had ever known. Suddenly he realised that he had no real friends at Hogwarts apart from Severus. Sure, he was to marry Narcissa, but that was a marriage fuelled by desire and money and breeding, not by love and intimacy. 

There was nothing he could tell Narcissa that would relieve his suffering, nothing that she would not be shocked at. How could he reveal to the school that not only had Severus lost all desire to be a real person, that under his seductive snake-shell he was nothing more than a haunted teenager, a very disturbed young man who saw no reason to go on living but could not summon the will to destroy himself, but that Lucius himself was far weaker, had only ever existed as part of a two and could not cope with the breaking of that tie?

But as Lucius watched Severus and understood that he couldn't bring himself to be a normal person again, could not force normal conversation to flow, he realised that Severus had felt the severing of the bond between them far more keenly than he himself had. Had Severus' countenance really been that fragile? Did it only take one night of passion that had verged a little too far on love to break him?

Lucius began to smile inside, seductively, triumphantly, even as he scowled at Severus across the room. Now was his chance to be king. Now he could rule. Before, Severus had been the leader; Severus had dictated what should be done. It had only been obvious to outsiders through the subtle ways in which Severus made himself just that small bit more attractive than Lucius, in the way he could rob, steal love from his partners. But with Severus gone, now was Lucius' chance to survive, Lucius' chance to carry on and make something of the Game they had played.

Now it was Lucius' turn to win.

And so Lucius formed his resolve and persisted, playing the Game by himself, strengthening the attraction, seducing and destroying. Severus watched him … he pretending he did not notice, but Severus saw everything.

But as their last year at Hogwarts progressed, Severus' self pity and complete lethargy, his refusal to partake in anything exciting, anything that could be considered a thrill, that refusal began to stab at Lucius' awareness. Softly at first, like a tickle, then a tickle that itched, and then an irritation. Slowly Lucius began to get more and more annoyed with Severus. Why was he just giving up like this? He had spent years playing this Game … how did it only take one person to break his will? What sort of weakling must Severus have been under his tough shell to be defeated so easily? 

Slowly displeasure began to grow under Lucius' skin, rising every time he set eyes on Severus, wanting to seize him and throw him against a wall, and then move in on him, to teach him pleasure as pain, to revenge himself for folding before the hands were laid. By the time it was two weeks until the end of the year, he hated Severus, he hated everything about him, the way he moved quietly, anger in every shift of his muscles, hated the way he spoke, silent tempests in that voice.

It was one night as he lay in bed, fists clenched in utter exasperation, that he suddenly recognized what he had to do.

*****

He accosted Severus after lessons the next day, slapped his face and dragged him, shocked, into the room where they had always operated. The air seemed different now, and Lucius apprehended with a peculiar thrilling shiver that the reversal of roles was complete, that he could assault Severus and be Severus, be what Severus had been, watching his partner transformed into a scared child.

'Severus … you're being stupid. You've thrown it all away, Severus; you've made a ruin out of your life. Look what you've done. Lily hates you, Dumbledore hates you … everyone hates you.'

Severus looked at him, his eyes and voice flat and dull. 'What do I care of that, Lucius?' For a moment Lucius heard the old calculated way of speaking come into play, and then the speech was back to its more modern concise, monotonic crawl. 'I'm done with the game, Lucius,' and suddenly it no longer had its capital, was no longer special and held in utter and total regard above everything else.

'Do you want to live, Severus?'

'Lucius, I told you, I'm finished. I don't care.'

'The come with me, Severus. Come to the Dark Lord with me and be my sacrifice. You can't abandon me now, I need your help.' Lucius had fashioned his voice smooth, silky … just like Severus' used to be. He was playing both sides … they both knew it … acting like the submitter, asking for his master's help, and yet commanding it … dominating. He wanted a deal from Severus … it was a good deal, too. Lucius got his position at Lord Voldemort's side, and Severus would be killed; he could not object to that when his whole life seemed so desolate and empty.

'I remember us once agreeing that Voldemort was out of the question. That his powers were nothing compared to ours, and yielding to the man was unthinkable. Where has that gone, Lucius?'

'Severus … you can't abandon me now.' Lucius smiled. It was a Snape trick: ignoring what the other person had just said so that to them it was insubstantial, a ghost of a sentence whose meaning had not been realised. 'We're together, we always have been. Malfoy and Snape, Snape and Malfoy, remember?'

'I'd rather end my own life, Lucius. Go away.'

'No …' the blonde boy replied thoughtfully. 'I think not … you see, you _will_ help me. You'll help me if I have to drag you to the Dark Lord. Am I going to have to force you?' Lucius leaned forward towards his partner, his breath hesitating only momentarily when he saw fear in Severus' face. 'Am I?' His voice was threatening now, low and imposing.

'I won't do it,' Severus warned, but his voice trembled, and the tone that would normally have frightening Lucius fell flat, lacking the will to make it stand.

Without another word Lucius grabbed Severus and slammed him to the floor, his face mysterious, schooled with restrained anger. Before Severus could move again Lucius' knife was in his hand.

But Severus knew that his master would not kill him, would not take away his misery and give him absolution, release from suffering. He would only cause enough pain to make Severus scream, would stop and allow the wounds to heal before returning to inflict more torture.

There was no predicting, however, what Lucius did to Severus next. He had not even been sure whether he would do it, had prepared for it and steeled himself to do it but still had not been sure if he could find the resolve to go through with it. But Severus' limpness had driven Lucius into a kind of frenzy, a desire to hurt, ruthless and wonderful in its entirety.

He drew out a small phial and flipped out the lid with his thumb, holding Severus' neck with his other hand. Then he kissed Severus hard, stroking the other boy's tongue with his before forcing Severus' head back and tipping the contents of the phial down his throat. 

Severus' eyes widened in horror as the liquid hit the inside of his mouth, and Lucius nodded, smiling and superior. 'Unicorn blood, Severus. For a cursed life, a half-life.'

Then he raped Severus.

*****

Nobody knew what had happened that night. It only became clear that Severus and Lucius were friends again. But it was just as clear that the Game was over. Lucius was to be married, Severus had no will. Life at Hogwarts became strangely peaceful, and although the teachers now had a pupil who had no motive to do any work, it was material worth a sigh of relief compared to the dark devastation the two Serpents had caused before.

At the end of the year, Lucius took Severus to Voldemort, a sacrifice bound in chains, his dark eyes flat above his gag. The Dark Lord looked at the two of them through his hard red eyes, had his Death Eaters remove the bindings from Severus and smiled in delight. 'At last! Two true Slytherins, bound to each other by honour and blood and love. I have wanted the Serpents n my fold for a long time. But Lucius, what have you done to your co-destroyer; he is duller than I remember he used to be.'

'My Lord, I gave him unicorn blood … he did not want to come to you.'

'Unicorn blood … the Imperius curse of the potions world.'

Severus smiled slightly; Lucius guessed that he was musing on the irony of being felled by his own potions.

'He could be useful, very useful … a servant who does not have will to rebel … I cannot separate you. You are like twins. No … you will both have the Mark … the pain you both suffer will more than fund your entrance for each other.'

'But my Lord!' Lucius protested. 'He does not want to be here … he doesn't want to serve you … might he not turn?'

'Not with that blood in his veins. Perhaps he does not want to be a Death Eater, but what can he do about it?'

And with that, he ordered the Marks burnt. Lucius squealed as the heat seared his skin, but Severus lay, his eyes fixed on his arm in a kind of sick fascination, and a resignation to something that was destined to happen. The whole expression gave him an air of unearthly wisdom, and Lucius resented it, hated it that Severus could bear pain so easily and still look wise. He had to go.

Later, after their ordeal, he cornered Severus again. 'I won't help you, Severus. You're on your own. Go to Hogwarts if you like, seek Dumbledore's help … I know you will, I know you too well.' He kissed Severus' neck fiercely. 'I won't betray you to the Dark Lord, but I won't lie if he asks where you are. You know the antidote to unicorn blood … happiness. Find happiness and use it. Go … please … do not torment me here, leave me!' Lucius forced his tongue into Severus' mouth and left it there for a long time, relishing the excitement his body gained from that kiss, revelling, accepting that it would never happen again, but giving Severus the chance to defy, rebel the red-eyed rat he had so often spurned, filling Severus with energy and strength of resolve.

Then Severus turned and left, swirled from Voldemort's castle in desperation, willing the Dark Mark to stay still, stay cold, stay Slytherin winter and silver … until he reached Hogwarts again.

FIN

*****

A/N: Yes, I agree, the ending is strange … that's because I am planning to write more. There will be a sequel to Games, set during the time Harry and Draco are at school. Please tell me if you think this is a good idea, although it is going to be written because I'm inspired now. I'd like reviews for this, hopefully motives and feelings will be made clear in the sequel.

So pleeease review!


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